Page "Yeomanry" Paragraph 2

In the 1790s, the threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high, after the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

To improve the country's defences, volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen.

While the word " yeoman " in normal use meant a small farmer who owned his land, Yeomanry officers were drawn from the nobility or the landed gentry, and many of the men were the officers ' tenants or had other forms of obligation to the officers.

These regiments became known collectively as the Yeomanry.

Members of the yeomanry were not obliged to serve overseas without their individual consent.